Sweet Storm
by deamrose10
Summary: there's a silver lining after every storm (umi/maki fluff)


Disclaimer: Love Live not mine ^_^

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"Umi, are you okay? You're limping, and I saw your feet when you were changing. Don't they look a bit swollen?"

"Eli, shh! Not so loud, please. It's nothing. The road was slippery when we ran here, and with little time to rest before our performance, I guess my feet's just tired. We're going home now, anyway, so don't worry." I smiled as I reassured Eli, although it looked like she wasn't really buying it. I sweat dropped.

"Really, Eli. I'm fine. Oh, Nozomi's calling you. Go ahead, I'll finish up here." I smiled as Eli gave me one last worried glance before running off. I sighed. In all honesty, my feet did hurt, and it seemed that I sprained my ankle when I slipped during our running spree earlier. _'Good thing no one saw that.'_

I took one final sweep of the dressing room to make sure we didn't leave anything behind. It was getting late, and Honoka's parents were already outside, waiting. They're going to give us a ride home, and it's a good thing, too. My feet were throbbing terribly, and I didn't know how long I could get away with it without anybody noticing. My phone suddenly vibrated, indicating that I received an SMS, and I quickly checked to see who it was from. It's from Honoka, saying that I should hurry up so we could leave before the next snow storm hits. I turned off the lights and closed the room then struggled to walk as fast as I could outside the building to the parking lot, but my ankle chose that moment to give up on me, so, naturally, I fell.

"Umi?!" I looked up from my spot on the floor and saw Maki running towards me, eyes full of concern.

"Are you hurt? Here, take my hand." I smiled gratefully at her as she helped me up, but my ankle's not stable enough yet so I had no choice but to lean on her.

"Umi, what's wrong with your foot?" I finally found enough balance to stand on my own so I pushed away from Maki gently and gave my junior a soft smile.

"It's nothing, Maki. I guess I'm just tired. Why are you still here? Come on, the others are waiting for us." I tried to suppress my yelp when I started walking again, but Maki, being the observant and stubborn person she was, held me back gently by my elbow and allowed me to lean on her again, a frown marring her face.

"What do you mean 'nothing?' You're obviously limping. Sit down for a second while I check your feet." She tried to steer me to a nearby seat but I stood firm and waited until she looked at me again.

"It's okay, Maki. It's just a minor sprain. I'll take care of it when I get home. We can't keep the others waiting for long." At that, my phone vibrated again. This time, Honoka's calling me, but before I could answer it, Maki suddenly took the call instead.

"Honoka, you guys can go ahead. I asked Umi to accompany me here in the ladies' room. I have my driver waiting, so I'll just bring her home instead, okay? Yes, we won't take long. Bye." I stared at Maki, dumb founded, as she handed me back my phone and forced me to sit down.

"Maki! What did you do that for? I told you, I'm fine!" She just glared back at me, as if saying 'Do you think I'm stupid?' so I just shut up and let her be. She slowly removed my shoes, taking care to not jostle my feet so as not to hurt me further. I just looked down at her red head, smiling at how gentle she's being. _'She's going to make a fine doctor one day.'_

"This is nothing? They're swollen all over! And this doesn't look like a minor sprain to me, Umi. We need to get this ankle bandaged up or else it'll get worse. Come on. Let's go back to my house first before I take you home." She helped me put my shoes back on and guided me outside towards her car.

"That's really not necessary, Maki. I can manage them on my own. You don't need to trouble yourself on my account," I pleaded, but, obviously, Maki just chose to ignore me and even had the audacity to roll her eyes as she gently shoved me inside her car. I just sighed in exasperation and called my mother to let her know where I was going so that she wouldn't worry. The car ride to Maki's house was uneventful, and the next thing I knew, she was already ushering me inside the living room.

"Sit here for a while and make yourself at home. I'll be back in a bit." As Maki left, I made myself comfortable on the sofa, removing my socks and letting my feet breathe. I stared at them and couldn't help but scowl. _'Fortunately, my feet lasted all throughout the performance. But how will I practice my dances now? Sigh. Mother will be disappointed with me because I didn't take care and gotten myself injured like this.'_ As I was contemplating on how to explain what happened when I get home, I jumped when Maki tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a cup of tea.

"Thank you," I said gratefully. Maki kneeled down in front of me and started working on my feet. I couldn't do anything but blush at how attentive she's being towards me.

"We need to soak them in warm water first so that the swelling goes down before I can bandage them up. I asked Mama to prepare dinner for us. Just relax and rest while you're here. You had a long day today." She smiled at me as she placed my feet in a basin.

We sat there in comfortable silence, me spacing out while Maki played with her phone. Being the group's lyricist and composer, we tend to see each other a lot outside school when we finalize our songs. It's not really obvious to others, but Maki and I got pretty close in the short span of time we worked together, making it pleasant for us to be alone for hours without any awkwardness. I felt her place her head on my shoulder without a care in the world, still tinkering with her phone, and I just smiled and leaned my head on hers as I closed my eyes.

"Ne, Umi," she whispered, and I just hummed in reply.

"We did great, right? I mean, of course we did, but do you think many people appreciated our song enough to vote for us?" I didn't answer for a while, and I guess she thought I was asleep or something so she sighed and just kept quiet, but I gently nuzzled her head then straightened up, her doing the same as her eyes stared at me like I had all the answers in the world. For all her confidence and bravado, Maki was actually a very sensitive girl, and I was fortunate that she trusts me enough for her to let me see her vulnerable side once in a while.

"I don't know how to properly answer that, Maki. We did our best, and I'm very proud that we made it this far. We just need to hope that other people will see how hard we worked to get here, and that they understood the message we put behind our song. Whatever the result may be, I, at least, am happy to be up on that stage with all of you. And yes, I think we did great, too," I giggled as I patted her head, earning a smile from my favorite _tsundere._

Maki finished bandaging my ankle just in time for her mother to call us for dinner. Since she didn't want me to be moving around unnecessarily, Maki insisted that we eat dinner here in the living room instead. We made small talk while we ate, mostly about school and our music. At some point, Maki's mother joined us and even brought dessert. After cleaning up, I noticed that it was getting really late and that I needed to go home already, but as I was about to speak up, Maki's father came in and said that the snow storm was getting rougher outside, and I should just stay the night.

"Is it really okay, Nishikino-san? I don't want to intrude."

"Nonsense. You're practically family. And besides, you're not fit to move around much in your condition. Maki-chan said you have the day off tomorrow, so feel free to sleep in and Maki-chan will accompany you home after." I thanked them profusely and called my parents to let them know of the change in plans. Weirdly enough, they weren't that concerned when I said I was stranded in the Nishikino house and that I'd be spending the night. I just shrugged it off.

"I've been troubling you a lot today, Maki. I don't know how to thank you and your parents enough for accommodating me," I said as we made our way to Maki's room. My junior just waved her hand and dismissed my concerns.

"Don't worry about it. You heard what Mama said. You're practically family since you've been spending a lot of time here whenever we compose." I just smiled at that.

We got ready for bed, and Maki sidled up to me and got herself comfortable, phone and earphones in hand. I looked at her curiously as she placed one bud in my ear, the other on hers. She blushed a bit as she looked at me.

"Umm, the storm kind of bothers me a bit. This'll help me calm down enough so I can sleep." Classical music wafted in my ears, and I realized that we're listening to Maki's piano pieces. The storm was brewing heavily outside, but inside this room, Maki and I just looked at each other, gazes tranquil, as we stayed there, listening quietly, content in each other's company.

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A/N: set after the love live semi-finals when they performed Snow Halation. Just a short one shot before going to bed. Thanks for reading! ^_^


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